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Corey Abbott

In The Crease

Eastern Conference Report Card

The lockout-shortened season moved the NHL trade deadline back into April and for a while it felt like nobody bothered to remind the league's General Managers. The majority of the 17 trades that occurred on Wednesday didn't start to churn out of the NHL's office until later in the afternoon with the deadline a mere hours away. Despite some big names heading to new destinations 48 hours prior to trade deadline day, we still got some blockbuster moves Wednesday, which included Marian Gaborik heading to Columbus and Jason Pominville going to Minnesota. Here's how the Eastern Conference clubs did on the trade front:

The Bruins added Jaromir Jagr in a fairly unheralded move. Jagr has played well for Dallas this season and his expertise with the man advantage should help Boston's 25th ranked power play. They also picked up Wade Redden from St. Louis to bring additional depth and a veteran presence to their back end.

Patrice Bergeron's concussion is certainly disappointing news. The Bruins are expected to promote versatile forward Rich Peverley to the second line in his place and they could always use Jagr, with Tyler Seguin at center, down the road on that combination if they want.

In the end, Boston didn't give up much while improving their club's overall depth. However, not addressing Bergeron's injury directly on Wednesday may hurt them if he's out for the long run.

The Sabres’ lackluster 2013 campaign has put them into rebuild mode. Buffalo shipped out veteran talent, including former captain Jason Pominville, in exchange for prospects and a number of higher tier draft picks. The team entered the trade deadline with the mindset that everyone and anyone could be

The Hurricanes didn't end up trading defenseman Jamie McBain, but they shipped out Jussi Jokinen to Pittsburgh. Jokinen was on waivers last week so he was on borrowed time.

Joni Pitkanen, who is projected to miss the rest of the regular season with a broken left heel bone, and Justin Faulk, who could return just before the campaign ends, are significant holes to fill on the blueline. The Canes didn't come close to patching up those issues, even with the acquisition of Marc-Andre Bergeron. Trying to replace players of that importance is a very difficult task.

The Panthers may have been more active on the trade front had Stephen Weiss and Kris Versteeg not been sidelined with season-ending injuries. There were only murmurs about potentially dealing Versteeg but Weiss' s name was mentioned often in possible trades throughout the summer and even during the work stoppage. Now, he'll probably leave as an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year unless something can be worked out quickly once his wrist is healthier.

Florida had no desire to ship out any of their younger players, which is understandable, and they didn't deal any veterans either aside from faceoff specialist Jarred Smithson, who was sent to Edmonton.

The Canadiens have played consistently well throughout the season, so there wasn't any reason to shake up their core. The only move management made was adding defenseman Davis Drewiske from Los Angeles to supply depth to their back end.

Montreal deserves kudos for not over-extending on deadline day even though they were interested in bringing in Ryane Clowe, who eventually chose to go to the Rangers.

New Jersey brought back former Devils forward Steve Sullivan on Wednesday and they acquired Matt D'Agostini, who has been skating in their top-six group in the place of injured winger Ilya Kovalchuk, from St. Louis on March 22nd.

Both players are capable of slotting up and down the team's lineup, but they probably won't have noteworthy impacts on the fantasy scene.

Grade: C

New York Islanders

Added: None

Lost: None

The Islanders weren't expected to be players on deadline day. GM Garth Snow made it known beforehand he wasn't interested in trading away prospects and he wanted to re-sign some of the club's key veterans rather than deal them away. New York inked defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky to a two-year, $9.5 million extension last week and they are working on getting Mark Streit locked up as well. Starting goalie Evgeni Nabokov is also in their long-term plans.

The Isles did what was expected in terms of avoiding subtractions, but they probably should have considered adding something to their roster in an effort to get themselves into the postseason since they are so close.

Grade: C

The lockout-shortened season moved the NHL trade deadline back into April and for a while it felt like nobody bothered to remind the league's General Managers. The majority of the 17 trades that occurred on Wednesday didn't start to churn out of the NHL's office until later in the afternoon with the deadline a mere hours away. Despite some big names heading to new destinations 48 hours prior to trade deadline day, we still got some blockbuster moves Wednesday, which included Marian Gaborik heading to Columbus and Jason Pominville going to Minnesota. Here's how the Eastern Conference clubs did on the trade front:

The Bruins added Jaromir Jagr in a fairly unheralded move. Jagr has played well for Dallas this season and his expertise with the man advantage should help Boston's 25th ranked power play. They also picked up Wade Redden from St. Louis to bring additional depth and a veteran presence to their back end.

Patrice Bergeron's concussion is certainly disappointing news. The Bruins are expected to promote versatile forward Rich Peverley to the second line in his place and they could always use Jagr, with Tyler Seguin at center, down the road on that combination if they want.

In the end, Boston didn't give up much while improving their club's overall depth. However, not addressing Bergeron's injury directly on Wednesday may hurt them if he's out for the long run.

The Sabres’ lackluster 2013 campaign has put them into rebuild mode. Buffalo shipped out veteran talent, including former captain Jason Pominville, in exchange for prospects and a number of higher tier draft picks. The team entered the trade deadline with the mindset that everyone and anyone could be

The Hurricanes didn't end up trading defenseman Jamie McBain, but they shipped out Jussi Jokinen to Pittsburgh. Jokinen was on waivers last week so he was on borrowed time.

Joni Pitkanen, who is projected to miss the rest of the regular season with a broken left heel bone, and Justin Faulk, who could return just before the campaign ends, are significant holes to fill on the blueline. The Canes didn't come close to patching up those issues, even with the acquisition of Marc-Andre Bergeron. Trying to replace players of that importance is a very difficult task.

The Panthers may have been more active on the trade front had Stephen Weiss and Kris Versteeg not been sidelined with season-ending injuries. There were only murmurs about potentially dealing Versteeg but Weiss' s name was mentioned often in possible trades throughout the summer and even during the work stoppage. Now, he'll probably leave as an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year unless something can be worked out quickly once his wrist is healthier.

Florida had no desire to ship out any of their younger players, which is understandable, and they didn't deal any veterans either aside from faceoff specialist Jarred Smithson, who was sent to Edmonton.

The Canadiens have played consistently well throughout the season, so there wasn't any reason to shake up their core. The only move management made was adding defenseman Davis Drewiske from Los Angeles to supply depth to their back end.

Montreal deserves kudos for not over-extending on deadline day even though they were interested in bringing in Ryane Clowe, who eventually chose to go to the Rangers.

New Jersey brought back former Devils forward Steve Sullivan on Wednesday and they acquired Matt D'Agostini, who has been skating in their top-six group in the place of injured winger Ilya Kovalchuk, from St. Louis on March 22nd.

Both players are capable of slotting up and down the team's lineup, but they probably won't have noteworthy impacts on the fantasy scene.

Grade: C

New York Islanders

Added: None

Lost: None

The Islanders weren't expected to be players on deadline day. GM Garth Snow made it known beforehand he wasn't interested in trading away prospects and he wanted to re-sign some of the club's key veterans rather than deal them away. New York inked defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky to a two-year, $9.5 million extension last week and they are working on getting Mark Streit locked up as well. Starting goalie Evgeni Nabokov is also in their long-term plans.

The Isles did what was expected in terms of avoiding subtractions, but they probably should have considered adding something to their roster in an effort to get themselves into the postseason since they are so close.

The Rangers were a popular pick to lift the Stanley Cup heading into this season, but their struggles in the truncated campaign have them on the cusp of not making the playoffs. The fear of not qualifying for the post-season has led to a dramatic overhaul on deadline day.

New York obtained Ryane Clowe from San Jose after he chose them over Vancouver and they picked up Derick Brassard and John Moore in the surprising blockbuster deal that sent Marian Gaborik to Columbus. The Blueshirts also acquired hard-nosed forward Derek Dorsett in the trade, but he's out for the rest of the year with a fractured clavicle.

The Rangers should be commended for their bold moves, especially since Gaborik appeared to be rapidly losing favor with coach John Tortorella, and if Wednesday night's win versus Pittsburgh is any indication, they appear to be on the right track to reach the post-season.

The Senators decided to end their remarkable three-goalie run Wednesday at the NHL trade deadline. They sent Ben Bishop, who was likely going to be their third string keeper, to Tampa Bay in exchange for impressive rookie Cory Conacher and a draft pick. The move will hand Robin Lehner the team's starting duties until Craig Anderson returns from his ankle ailment.

Conacher instantly becomes the Senators' leading scorer with 24 points in 35 games. He did benefit from playing alongside Steve Stamkos and Martin St. Louis, but he does possess good offensive instincts and is only 23 years of age.

The Flyers tried to get Ben Bishop from Ottawa but settled on Steve Mason from Columbus because the Senators' price was too high.

Mason has plenty of question marks regarding his ability, as he's never been able to duplicate the success he had as a rookie in 2008-09. He probably won't be the team's long-term answer in goal, but his arrival may place Ilya Bryzgalov on a higher state of alert.

The Penguins kicked off the trading frenzy early with big moves to bolster their already impressive roster. Before the end of March, Pittsburgh had already added former captains Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow from Calgary and Dallas, respectively. The Penguins also obtained rugged rearguard Doug Murray from San Jose to help their penalty kill. Iginla has been playing alongside Evgeni Malkin while Morrow has slotted in nicely on the third line. Despite those moves, they weren't done and added Jussi Jokinen from Carolina before Wednesday's deadline.

During their roster tinkering, Pittsburgh brought in a wealth of leadership and grit, as well as some versatility in Jokinen at the expense of prospects and upper tier draft picks. The team's management has been given the green light to 'go for it' when it comes to reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. Once Sidney Crosby returns from his broken jaw, the Penguins should be considered a favorite to win it all this spring. Whether or not they can do that is of course up for interpretation, but the moves they made improved an already dangerous group.

The Lightning made a surprising move prior to Wednesday's deadline when they dealt promising rookie Cory Conacher to Ottawa for goaltender Ben Bishop. Bishop has performed well for the Senators this season while sharing the crease with Robin Lehner in number one goalie Craig Anderson's absence. However, Tampa already has a goalie project of their own in Anders Lindback, who is currently recovering from an ankle injury.

The move appears to be a tad desperate when you consider that Lindback is still learning his craft and working his way to potentially being a starter. Bishop isn't a number one guy either, although he is probably further along in that regard than Lindback is right now. The Lightning are also far back in the playoff hunt and Bishop's arrival is unlikely to put them back into contention.

The tandem of Lindback and Bishop could be very good next season, but right now the move doesn't seem to make much sense.

The larger story from the perspective of the Toronto Maple Leafs is who they didn't acquire rather than who they did following the NHL trade deadline. The Leafs were reported to be in the mix for a veteran netminder and they had their sights set on Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff and Vancouver's Roberto Luongo. Kiprusoff decided to stay with the Flames and will probably retire at the end of the year, while the Leafs turned down a few trade proposals from the Canucks for Luongo during the final moments prior to the deadline.

Toronto may be better off in the long term without landing either puck stopper. They have received very good goaltending from James Reimer and Ben Scrivens this year and they won't be handcuffed salary cap wise as they would have with Luongo on board or by having to give Kiprusoff an extension.

In the end, the Leafs got physical defenseman Ryan O'Byrne from Colorado to play in their top-six group.

The Capitals gave up a solid prospect in Filip Forsberg but they received a good offensive winger in Marin Erat in return. Erat has been a consistent point producer with the low-scoring Predators over his career and it will be interesting to see how he plays under a different system. He should get top-six minutes with Washington.

The team is close to surpassing Winnipeg for the Southeast Division lead and they are clearly hoping to make a run down the stretch to qualify for the playoffs. Erat should help in that regard and they chose to keep center Mike Ribeiro despite not signing him to an extension yet.

The Capitals were thought to be too far back to reach the postseason following their brutal start to the year, but now they are thinking playoffs and their deadline moves support that direction.

Grade: B

Winnipeg Jets

Added: None

Lost: None

The NHL trade deadline came and passed with the Jets standing pat. The only roster move the club made was picking up Mike Santorelli off waivers from Florida on Wednesday. Nik Antropov is projected to miss two weeks with a lower-body injury, which necessitated the transaction.

The Jets are floundering in the East's playoff picture, so it was a bit hard to see them stand idle. They could've used a jolt that a trade could create, but GM Kevin Cheveldayoff didn't want to move any assets and hinder the team's future growth.